Condom - Major Manufacturers

Major Manufacturers

One analyst described the size of the condom market as something that "boggles the mind". Numerous small manufacturers, nonprofit groups, and government-run manufacturing plants exist around the world. Within the condom market, there are several major contributors, among them both for-profit businesses and philanthropic organizations. Most large manufacturers have ties to the business that reach back to the end of the 19th century.

• Julius Schmid, Inc. was founded in 1882 and began the Sheik and Ramses brands of condoms. The London Rubber Company began manufacturing latex condoms in 1932, under the Durex brand. Both companies are now part of Seton Scholl Limited.
• Youngs Rubber Company, founded by Merle Youngs in late 19th century America, introduced the Trojan line of condoms now owned by Church and Dwight.
• Dunlop Rubber began manufacturing condoms in Australia in the 1890s. In 1905, Dunlop sold its condom-making equipment to one of its employees, Eric Ansell, who founded Ansell Rubber. In 1969, Ansell was sold back to Dunlop. In 1987, English business magnate Richard Branson contracted with Ansell to help in a campaign against HIV and AIDS. Ansell agreed to manufacture the Mates brand of condom, to be sold at little or no profit in order to encourage condom use. Branson soon sold the Mates brand to Ansell, with royalty payments made annually to the charity Virgin Unite. In addition to its Mates brand, Ansell currently manufactures Lifestyles for the U.S. market.
• In 1934 the Kokusia Rubber Company was founded in Japan. It is now known as the Okamoto Rubber Manufacturing Company.
• In 1970 Tim Black and Philip Harvey founded Population Planning Associates (now known as Adam & Eve). Population Planning Associates was a mail-order business that marketed condoms to American college students. Black and Harvey used the profits from their company to start a non-profit organization Population Services International, and Harvey later also founded another nonprofit company, DKT International, that annually sells millions of condoms at discounted rates in developing countries around the world.